


welcome home

by xigithy



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Canon Compliant, Drabble, M/M, Spoilers for KH3, post-kh3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-08
Updated: 2019-07-08
Packaged: 2020-06-24 09:32:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19720981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xigithy/pseuds/xigithy
Summary: Lea waits for a newly recompleted Isa to awaken.





	welcome home

**Author's Note:**

  * For [crowtective](https://archiveofourown.org/users/crowtective/gifts).



It’s almost a relief that Isa hasn’t regained consciousness by the time Lea finally makes it back to Radiant Garden. He wants to  _ be _ there this time, be the first thing Isa sees when his eyes open for the first time as a recomplete, whole person, be there and finally see the brilliant green of his gaze instead of the steely amber one he’s known for the last decade. But mostly… Lea needs to see that he’s safe. It’s over now, the Organization’s whole deal, but there’s a lingering feeling of anxious dread that lives in him now- whispering doubts that Isa will ever fully be free of Xehanort’s control. He just- he needs to be there.

It’s decidedly much less of a relief when Isa still isn’t awake hours after Lea arrives.  _ It’s well within a normal timeframe _ , Ienzo had reassured him,  _ Even and Dilan had also taken hours to stir back to life after being recompleted- it’s when the  _ **_hours_ ** _ turn to  _ **_days_ ** _ that I would begin to worry. _ He appreciates the soothing words- especially given his and Ienzo’s...history- but, all the same, Lea is worried.

The worry keeps him up through the night and into the small hours of the morning, just sitting at Isa’s side watching the slow, steady rise and fall of his chest as he lay sleeping on a sofa. It’s amazing how, even now with the beginnings of the day’s sunlight streaming inside a nearby window and casting a warm glow onto his face, he looks like a totally different person. The rage and bitter darkness that followed Saïx’s aura around like death has dissipated, leaving behind the core of his somebody, the innermost part of Isa that kept Lea hanging onto his relationship with Saïx for far longer than was probably smart. With a heavy sigh, Lea leans forward, his lanky frame hovering over the sleeping Isa, and touches the tips of his fingers lightly to Isa’s cheek. 

“C’mon, Isa. Don’t keep me waiting like this…” he murmurs the plea, moving a hand up to brush wisps of blue hair from his best friend’s face. “You stay asleep much longer and I’m gonna have to do something  _ drastic _ ; you know you’re like half of my impulse control.”

“There’s...no need understate it.” Isa’s eyes flutter open, and he wakes with a soft groan. “I’m at least 95% of your impulse control at any given time.”

The barely there emergence of a smile from Isa shakes Lea to his core and, with a low, breathy gasp, he withdraws his hand from the other man’s face- as if the mere act of touching him would prompt another long, unending sleep. 

“I- you’re awake.”

“And you’re as observant as ever.” Isa chuckles and begins, with some difficulty, to pull himself into a seated position. 

“No, Isa…” Lea sits on the edge of the sofa beside him, taking Isa’s hands in either of his own and squeezing to emphasize his point. “You’re  _ awake _ .”

The weight of the words consumes Isa all at once, and the tightness in his chest that grips him as his sleepy eyes lock with Lea’s eager ones is nearly too much for him to bear. Swallowing thickly, Isa breaks the eye contact, looking down to stare hard at the other man’s hands clasped around his own.

“I’m...awake,” he repeats, almost unbelieving, as Lea gives his hands another gentle squeeze. The act is a consoling one, which Isa is immensely grateful for but...is he even deserving of such comfort? After all the  _ heinous _ things he’s done- after all the blood that’s stained his hands, it’s a wonder Lea can even stand to be in the same room as him. “Lea. I’m… so  _ sorry _ , for  **everything** . I-“

“Hey,  _ shhh _ ,” Lea cuts him off with a quiet hushing, pulling his hands from around Isa’s and moving them up to tenderly cradle his face. “It’s over, Isa. It’s in the past.”

There are tears in Lea’s eyes as he speaks, and when he leans forward to touch his forehead to Isa’s, Isa is shocked to feel a familiar streaming of tears down his own face. God... when was the last time he cried? When was the last time he felt anything even  **close** to honest to god  _ emotion _ ? Isa cups his hands over Lea’s and, for the first time in a decade, the two cry together. They cry for their past, fraught with trauma and unspeakable things; they cry for each other, and for the healing that they hope will bring them back together; but most importantly, they cry for themselves, finally free from the chains of the Organization.

Neither Lea nor Isa is sure how long they sit there, crying and holding each other, but when the tide of tears is finally stemmed Lea presses kiss after kiss to Isa’s forehead- each one like a gentle reminder that he’s  _ there _ , that he’s  _ alive _ . Maybe Isa doesn’t deserve the grace of forgiveness- and maybe he never will- but if the closest he comes to redemption is merely standing in the warm glow of Lea’s light, then that’s all he could ever possibly ask for.

**Author's Note:**

> Not a prompt per se, but inspired by some beautiful art on twitter, which can be found [here](https://twitter.com/saixbosom/status/1143786672405958658)!


End file.
